Treasure Island
Ratings475
Average rating3.8
Intrépida narración llena de dinamismo y aventuras.
Un clásico sin lugar a duda.
Stevenson logra que conectemos con el protagonista, haciendo que descubramos todos los tejemanejes a la vez que los va descubriendo el protagonista.
I was curious about this one for a while, and Ive found myself enjoying retellings of this story, so that tells me that the concept isn't the problem for me. I think the writing is just too dry, and I couldn't really engage with it past the halfway point.
It's a fantastic book but descriptions aren't so good and when it talks about boats it may be boring
I am sure that I attempted this book when I was about twelve, when one would expect I would find this sort of adventure appealing. Reading it now, in tandem with my own child who is reading it for school, I know that I didn't finish it then and only finished now because I had to. There is nothing really wrong with the book, but there is also nothing very redeeming about it.
After watching the streaming series Black Sails that is billed as a prequel to Treasure Island, I decided to pick up and read the original classic. Treasure Island has always been tilted toward a young adult readership. This is logical, since the main narrator and protagonist of the story is a young boy caught in an exciting, life-endangering pirate adventure. Even though many of the characters in Treasure Island appear in the streaming series prequel, I would never recommend the very adult themed streaming series to a young adult audience. It was interesting to see the continuing storylines and fates of many of the characters from the streaming series, so I can recommend this book to adults who watched Black Sails if interested in following the continuing story and to young adults as a stand-alone pirate adventure.
Fun, classic read that makes one realize where a lot of modern day references come from, especially around pirates, treasure, and famous names/places. While written in an older style or language for obvious reasons, most should still be able to broadly follow the events. Anyone familiar with these types of stories probably won't be surprised by many of the story beats, yet there is still a fairly satisfying conclusion.
thought i would like this more than i did but it was kind of dull a lot of the time and jim is an annoying protagonist... sorry. long john silver was the most interesting part of the book by far. the whole time i was reading this i was just thinking... I should rewatch treasure planet...
“There are sound scientific reasons why some in this world are rich and some are poor. It comes down to character, and no amount of piracy can counterbalance that. A pirate never died rich.”
“Unless he pretended he wasn't a pirate at all.”
Shiver me timbers!
This may be an unpopular opinion, but I thought the book was rather dull. (I'm sorry, younger self.) For all its romanticizing of pirates and would-be treasure hunters, the actual meat and potatoes of the story lacked any real world-building in my opinion. Now, I'm not going to sit here and criticize one of my favorite books as a child, but I can't get the information I learned from the book Black Flags, Blue Waters, and other similar real-world accounts of the crews who flew the Jolly Roger out of my head.
Pirates were not that glamorous and did not live great lives, as you can imagine. Most were caught, incarcerated, starved, or worse. So, even though a part of my nostalgia died, the heart of the quest was still intriguing. I just remember it being a bit more descriptive. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
How I missed out on reading this book as a kid, I am not sure! Robert Louis Stevenson's “A Child's Garden of Verses” was a favorite from a young age and the 1950 Disney adaptation of “Treasure Island,” as well as the 1990's “Muppet Treasure Island” (ha!), were well-known to me.
This book isn't just for kids and is a rip-roaring escape vehicle. Many of the pirate tropes we're so accustomed abound in “Treasure Island.” In fact, I only had to look up a few words because the pirate lexicon has become rather ingrained, especially from movies. This was the December book club pick for my Great Books group; interestingly, some members of the group really didn't like it and were disappointed there weren't more women/girls in the book. In my opinion, girls/women would have had a hard time hiding (and avoid rape) on a pirate ship, especially if they had hit puberty. There's a nice allusion to Edgar Allen Poe's “The Gold Bug” to watch out for.
What I really enjoyed about the book is that it offered more than an adventure tale with a moral at the end; there's some ambiguity on who's good and who's bad leaving the reader room to make their own conclusions.
We can only guess at what Stevenson might have written had he not been felled by illness at a relatively young age. It is also possible Stevenson might not have developed his imagination so fully had he not been ill from his youth onwards. Either way, this is a really good book.
Here are the questions I compiled/edited for the book club meeting using two sources (
https://www.litlovers.com/reading-guides/fiction/9285-treasure-island-stevenson?start=3
https://www.shmoop.com/treasure-island-book/questions.html):
1. Jim is probably around 12 or 13 years of age, a naive and impetuous boy. How does he change during the novel to achieve a level of maturity and perspective? Can you find some examples of how he vacillates between the worlds of childhood and adulthood?
2. Jim Hawkins is the narrator for 31 out of 34 chapters. Why might Stevenson have decided to switch perspectives for these three chapters? How different might the story have been if Jim were the only narrator?
3. With the exception of Jim's mother, who doesn't even get a name, there are no women at all in this novel. Why not? How might Treasure Island be different if Jim Hawkins were Jane Hawkins?
4. Many readers have considered Long John Silver “Treasure Island's” most compelling character. What do you think? Is he thoroughly evil, a stock villain, or more complex? Does he possess any semblance of nobility? Why do you think Stevenson leaves Long John Silver's background and origins a mystery?
5. Both Captain Smollett and Long John Silver lead teams of men. How do their leadership abilities differ from one another? What do their styles suggest about their characters?
6. Jim sees Dr. Livesey as a good man...but not a grand one. Why? How do you see Livesey?
7. Role models are a central theme of the novel. Who do you think is the best example for Jim and who is Jim the most drawn to (Dr. Livesey, Squire Trelawney, Long John Silver, etc.)?
8. Is Ben Gunn stand a cautionary example of someone too long separated from society's civilizing influences?
9. What are is the symbolic significance of flags to the story?
10. Some consider Treasure Island a book about unfettered desire. How does greed motivate the different characters and how does finding the treasure affect them? At the end of the book, why do the gold coins evoke nightmares rather than pleasurable dreams for Jim? Why does Jim have no desire to return for the silver that was left behind?
11. Why did Stevenson reveal the characters' religious views near the end of the adventure?
12. The ending of Treasure Island is intentionally ambiguous without a clear answer on where Long John Silver went. What do you think of Jim's moral reasoning on Silver's escape? Are you glad that Silver gets away with a bag of cash? How might the tone of the novel be different if Silver hadn't escaped punishment?
I wasn't overly impressed by the story. It felt dry to me and I was looking forward to finishing it. Not bad, just lacking. If I read it before, I don't remember. I'm still glad to have read it.
The chapter where it switches to the Doctor was weird. I still don't understand why that was done.
The ending was odd too. Are we to believe that Jim has the parrot? Or is it part of his nightmares? The world may never know.
I think I would've given this story 5 stars if I didn't have to google a word every other page because I don't know sailor lingo, but despite that I thought it was a captivating story and a fun read.
Classic for a reason. I felt that this was significantly better than any of the movie adaptations.
...what blood and sorrow, what good ships scuttled on the deep, what brave men walking the plank blindfold, what shot of cannon, what shame and lies and cruelty, perhaps no man alive could tell.
Entertaining and surprisingly complex for an adventure book originally intended for a teenage audience. I had a lot of fun with this one, because pirates are always fun. I don't care who you are.
A brilliant narration of an engaging story
This is a dramatization, so you do feel like you're in the story with Jim, listening to the sea roar, seagulls and silver's parrot squawking in your ear.
bookclub4m November genre: Adventure fiction
“Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!”
I knew this story (probably through Wishbone), but I'd never read this book before - ancient classic like it is. I probably could have done with a copy that had historical - context footnotes or something but the adventure part was fully engaging. I have long loved seafaring adventure stories true and fictionalized from a young age.
I can see why this would have been very exciting to read in 1893. LOL. Read this after becoming obsessed with Black Sails. I listened to it on audio and the actor was giving it all he had.
This book contains everything you could expect from a story like this. Although this is one of the well-known classics, I had not read it yet. I am very happy that I have done so now.
The story follows Jim Hawkins who lives with his mother in the “Admiral Benbow” inn in a seaside town. When pirate Bill, who is a client at the inn, leaves a treasure map after his death, Jim sets off on an adventure to find the treasure. It is written in short chapters and after each chapter you want to know what Stevenson has in store for Hawkins and co. Because of the interesting story and the short chapters I read this fairly quickly.
If you have not yet become acquainted with this classic, it is highly recommended.
I can see why it's a classic must read, but it also took a bit to finish; a mixture of the book being written as to seem older than it is, being written in the late 1800's, and certain bits written to sound “pirate” means it is quite difficult to follow a little too often.
All in all it's a good read and would certainly suggest anyone who enjoys pirates / pirate stories to dig in and persevere with the writing. Ideally I'd have read it on a kindle to be able to look up words faster but nothing beats a real book, especially the lovely edition I have of this one!
This probably deserves 4 stars just for the creation of Long John Silver, one of the most magnificent characters in English literature. The reader winds up rooting for him as he manipulates his way out of each scrape, even though we know he's a conniving murderer. Stevenson is probably responsible for the entirety of modern pirate lore - our mythical notion of piracy full of amiable rogues and high adventure. Everything from Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean to Talk Like a Pirate Day to Spongebob Squarepants owes so much to this story. And this story still stands up well against its more modern iterations.
I'd say the only thing I didn't like was the repeated cycle of Jim acting like a colossal idiot, only to find that his brainless decision has saved the whole crew. Often I'd pause and think, “Yup, this was clearly written to entertain a 12-year-old boy!” But at least Stevenson has the Doctor call Jim out on it!
What can be said that hasnt been said already? It's a classic adventure of buccaneers and buried gold. And a perfect book for an afternoon.